Iranians Find Pockets of Connection Amid Internet Blackout
After Iranians were cut off from the world for four days, the country's nearly complete internet blackout was abruptly lifted late Friday for some Iranians, who managed to get access to weak connections by switching to different servers or perhaps through sheer luck.
But many said they thought the connections were temporary or unsafe, with the government still imposing tight restrictions that were difficult to bypass.
'It feels like we're in a dark cave,' said Arta, an Iranian who fled Tehran on Tuesday and was able to briefly send a few messages over Instagram late Friday.
Like many others who have exchanged messages with The New York Times over the last week, he asked to be identified only by his first name to avoid scrutiny by the authorities.
'Even SMS texts don't go through sometimes,' he said.
Many Iranians rely on virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade government restrictions on the internet, but many of those services have been disrupted since Israel's attacks began. On Saturday, as some connection returned, providers urged their users to act cautiously.
'For your own sake, don't spread the link, the server will disconnect, and our work will only get harder,' one organizer wrote on a VPN provider's Telegram channel. The organizer warned that reports of disconnection were increasing again, and asked subscribers to not share their product link because their server was overwhelmed.
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Iranians Find Pockets of Connection Amid Internet Blackout
After Iranians were cut off from the world for four days, the country's nearly complete internet blackout was abruptly lifted late Friday for some Iranians, who managed to get access to weak connections by switching to different servers or perhaps through sheer luck. But many said they thought the connections were temporary or unsafe, with the government still imposing tight restrictions that were difficult to bypass. 'It feels like we're in a dark cave,' said Arta, an Iranian who fled Tehran on Tuesday and was able to briefly send a few messages over Instagram late Friday. Like many others who have exchanged messages with The New York Times over the last week, he asked to be identified only by his first name to avoid scrutiny by the authorities. 'Even SMS texts don't go through sometimes,' he said. Many Iranians rely on virtual private networks, or VPNs, to evade government restrictions on the internet, but many of those services have been disrupted since Israel's attacks began. On Saturday, as some connection returned, providers urged their users to act cautiously. 'For your own sake, don't spread the link, the server will disconnect, and our work will only get harder,' one organizer wrote on a VPN provider's Telegram channel. The organizer warned that reports of disconnection were increasing again, and asked subscribers to not share their product link because their server was overwhelmed. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
